Three-quarters of US adults are now overweight or obese – study
- Nearly three-quarters of US adults are overweight or obese, according to a new study.
- The country is facing a growing burden of weight-related diseases, according to the New York Times.
The study, published Thursday in The Lancet, reveals the striking rise in obesity rates nationwide since 1990 – when just over half of adults were overweight or obese – and shows how more people are becoming overweight or obese at younger ages than in the past. . Both conditions can increase the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease and shorten life expectancy.
The authors of the study documented increases in overweight and obesity rates at all ages. They were particularly alarmed by the steep rise in children, more than one in three of whom are now overweight or obese. In the absence of firm intervention, they predict that the number of overweight and obese people will continue to rise – reaching almost 260 million people in 2050.
“I would consider it an epidemic,” said Marie Ng, an associate professor affiliated with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine and co-author of the new study.
Ng and his co-authors said existing policies have failed to do enough to address the crisis, adding that “major reform” is needed to prevent it from worsening.
“It’s going to take a lot more attention and a lot more investment than we’re currently giving to the problem,” said Sarah Armstrong, a professor of pediatrics and population health sciences at Duke University, who was not involved in the study.
The paper defined “overweight” adults as those who were at least 25 years old and a body mass index of at least 25, and “obese” adults as those with a BMI of at least 30. The authors acknowledged that BMI is a imperfect measure that might not capture body structure variations within the population. However, from a scientific point of view, experts said BMI is correlated with other measures of body fat and is a convenient tool for studying it at the population level.
The authors found a steady increase in the percentage of people who are overweight or obese over the past three decades. The obesity rate, in particular, has risen sharply, doubling among adults between 1990 and 2021 to over 40% – and nearly tripling to 29% among girls and women aged 15 to 24.
The implications are serious: A Joint Economic Committee report released this year predicted that obesity will lead to up to $9.1 trillion in excess medical spending over the next 10 years.
Obesity increases the likelihood of numerous metabolic conditions and their associated complications, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, heart attack, and stroke. Obesity is also linked to infertility, cancer and mental health problems.
Source: www.mediafax.ro
